From the radical Black Panther imagery of old‑school rappers such as Public Enemy and KRS-One to the monetarist manifestos of the bling-bling era, hip-hop and politics have frequently collided. But across the channel, the two worlds appear to have taken a step closer, with the revelation that France's embattled president François Hollande has hired erstwhile rap music journalist (and senior civil servant) Pierre-Yves Bocquet as his chief speechwriter. And if Bocquet – who penned articles under the pseudonym Pierre Evil – does ever catch writer's block, both he and Hollande could do much worse than draw oratorical inspiration from these lyrical jewels:

On the economy

Mad as hell … Killer Mike Photograph: Zak Kaczmarek/Getty Images

"What are you to do when a dollar ain't worth shit/ And the jobs ain't hirin' and unemployment is gone/ They gonna repo' your car and foreclose your home / Me, I suggest you get yourself a shotgun/ So when they come to evict, you can make 'em run/ The banks got bailed out but we still suffering/ So I got a gun 'cause I done had enough of 'em."Killer Mike – Burn (2011)

Atlanta rapper Mike's spiky précis of the financial crisis ticks all the boxes. You may not agree with his solution, but it's certainly more forthright than the UK's Funding for Lending Scheme.

On education

"I believe that if you're teaching history/ Deal with straight–up facts, no mystery/ Teach the student what needs to be taught / 'Cause black and white kids both take shorts/ When one doesn't know about the other one's culture/ Ignorance swoops down like a vulture."Boogie Down Productions – You Must Learn (1988)

Labelling himself The Teacher and The Edutainer, KRS-One at times came over as hectoring and patronising but here he makes a serious point about combating ignorance and racism in class.

On war

"I ain't fightin' behind no goddamn oil/ Against motherfuckers I don't know … All of those wasted lives/ And only one or two get recognised/ But what good is a medal when you're dead?/ Tell Uncle Sam I said/ 'I ain't goin' to war for a shit-talkin' president/ Fuck, fuck, fuck a war …"Geto Boys – Fuck A War (1991)

Though it deals with the first Gulf War, the sentiment is equally applicable to the 2003 Iraq conflict invasion. You may even posit that Bushwick Bill's 'fuck a war' refrain is the distant cousin to Jacques Chirac's staunch opposition to the US-led invasion.

Former Co Flow frontman El-P's satirical swipe at the US military-industrial complex would surely chime with many of Hollande's contemporaries, many of whom likely still bristle at the pre-Iraq War "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" episode.

On crime

'It’s a war going on outside we safe from …' Jay-Z and Kanye West. Photograph: Rex Features

"I can still hear his mama cry/ Know the family traumatised/ Shots left holes in his face about piranha-sized/ The old pastor closed the cold casket/ And said the church ain't got enough room for all the tombs/ It's a war going on outside we ain't safe from …"Kanye West & Jay-Z – Murder To Excellence' (2011)

Before he got all distracted searching for his damn croissants, Kanye served up this stark study of the impact that gun crime has on black America.

On social issues

"Now I done grew up 'round some people living their life in bottles/ Granddaddy had the golden flask backstroke every day in Chicago/ Some people like the way it feels, some people wanna kill their sorrows/ Some people wanna fit in with the popular, that was my problem." Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank) (2012)

Probably more relevant to these shores than either the US or France, here Kendrick deftly digs beneath the sensationalist Booze Britainesque headlines to examine the reasons behind alcohol misuse. Before diving into a pool full of liquor during the second verse.